Montagu Junior scorcher

2012-03-07 11:28

Elza Thiart

Searing heat, injuries and a gruelling route pushed junior off-road motorcycle and quad competitors to their limits in the Montagu Junior National in the Western Cape.

The second round of the Junior National championship, held in the Koo Valley in the Western Cape, was raced in conditions drastically different to the snow experienced in 2011. The severe conditions at the weekend took their toll of the young off-road riders competing at National, Regional and Club level.

OPEN MOTORCYCLE CLASS

Andrew Wren (Yamaha) had his second consecutive victory in the Open Motorcycle Class and was followed by Estiaan Steenkamp (Yamaha) and Damien Scott (Yamaha). Local Tulbagh newcomer Dirk Swanepoel (Yamaha) was fourth ahead of Louw Schmidt (Suzuki).

Travis Teasdale (Yamaha) won the 125cc Class ahead of Brett Swanepoel (KTM). Swanepoel arrived at the finish with a severely damaged crashed bike. He was followed by Cape Town riders Eamonn Sullivan (Yamaha) and Aeron Thompson (KTM) who finished third and fourth respectively. Corbin Lamb (Yamaha) was fifth place.

The severe conditions took their toll on the riders in the 125cc Class as Jan Human (KTM) and Angus Coetzee (Yamaha) crashed and retired from the race due to injuries. Brendon Fourie finished in sixth, DJ Hattingh (Yamaha) finished seventh while Dylan McGovern (Yamaha) and Devan Marais (Yamaha) were eighth and ninth respectively. Ross Blackwell (KTM) finished in 10th with defective rear brakes.

SENIOR 85CC CLASS

Bradley Cox (KTM), son of the former multiple off-road motorcycle champion, Alfie Cox, claimed his second consecutive victory in the Senior 85cc Class beating Allistair Drennan (KTM) who was only two minutes ahead of Cape rider, Matt van Galen (Yamaha) after the three hour battle.

Chayse Orsmond (Yamaha) finished fourth with Reghardt van Nieuwenhuizen (KTM) in fifth as the last finisher for riders between the ages of 13 and 15 years.

SENIOR OPEN QUAD CLASS

A new winner emerged in the Senior Open Quad Class; Colin-Nicholas Meder (Can-Am) made his home crowd proud when he brought the winning laurels home. Adriaan Uys (Kawasaki) was second after battling with a flat tyre and Wayne Smith (Honda) stepped on to the podium again (he was second at the season opener) in third.

Three Cape riders finished in the top five with a dehydrated Kevin Crouse (Yamaha) making it to fourth and Kenan Kotze (Yamaha) was fifth.

Shaun Smith (Honda) was sixth with Joshua Schenk (Yamaha) seventh after losing time stuck in a ditch. Wiam Nutt (Suzuki) followed Schenk in eighth. Winner of the first event, Jaco Moller (Suzuki) finished ninth due to mechanical problems and Wernich van der Walt (Yamaha) rounded off the top 10.

The rocky route through was especially tough on competitors in the junior category. Cape Town rider Tristan Joubert (Yamaha) made up for not finishing the first event by winning the Junior Open Quad Class. Joubert was followed by Brodie Jacobs (Yamaha), Dylan van Eden (Yamah), Ruan Combrinck (Yamaha) and Eathan van Rensburg (Yamaha). Jade Schutte (Yamaha) finished in sixth.

JUNIOR CATEGORY

Tyrone Renwick, who won the junior category class during the first race on his Yamaha, experienced mechanical problems and could not finish.

On two wheels the Calvin Hume (Yamaha) was the Junior 85cc Class. Keagan Coetzee (KTM) finished second with newcomer Daniel Castling Bolt (KTM) coming third after more than two gruelling hours in the sun.

Janiel de Villiers (Yamaha) was fourth with David Odendaal (Honda) in fifth. The season’s first winner, Tristan Asher-Wood (KTM) could not finish due to mechanical problems. Dorian Cordiner (KTM) was sixth, Dean Gouws (Suzuki) finished seventh and Michael Glockle (KTM) came in eighth place.

Stefan van Deventer (KTM) was victorious in the Junior 65cc Class, followed by Matthew Green (KTM) and Erik Merry (KTM) in second and third place respectively. Troy Sullivan (Yamaha) finished in fourth.

The third round of the 2012 Junior National Championship will takes place in Lesotho for the Junior Roof on May 5.